As part of my training in ministry, one of the things I like to do is 'walk-up evangelism' in our church car park. Often, people park illegally in our private car park, which gives me a good opportunity to front up to them and commend them for 'coming to church', and explaining to them what church is all about. More often than not, the guilt they feel for knowingly breaking the law makes them (reluctantly) inclined to listen to me talk about the death Jesus died to save people from their 'trespassing', and his Resurrection to give new life to those who were once 'workers of lawlessness'.
On one occasion I got a young man to read 1 Peter 3:18, which says: "Christ died for sin once for all - the righteous, for the unrighteous, to bring you to God..." I then asked him if he was an unrighteous person (for whom Christ died), to which he replied "nah, actually, I reckon I'm pretty good most of the time". I immediately asked him what he thought trespassing meant! He saw the humor in the situation, and God willing, maybe he'll also see the seriousness one day.
However, I'm posting on this occasion to tell you all about an interesting exchange that took place in the car park yesterday between myself and a Christian (so called) woman whom I'll refer to as 'Lou'.
I asked Lou: "what do you think about Jesus?"
Lou replied: "He's part of the Trinity - God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. And he's the Lord and Saviour".
This was enough for me to assume that she either had gone, or still goes to a church that at least uses the Bible.
So I then asked: "do you go to a church?"
She told me the church she attended - it was a charismatic/Pentecostal church in Wollongong.
But what she said next really astounded me.
Lou said: "It took me a long time to find the right church; the church where I feel right and comfortable, the church that I feel is the right one for me. I used to go to the Spiritualist church, and various other churches in the area that dealt with spiritual things, but my psychic told me I should go somewhere where I feel more comfortable".
Lou had been in churches (if you could call them that!) where she was taught that there was a continual struggle between evil spirits and the Spirit of God in the life of the individual believer. She was led to believe that the way she felt was the definitive indicator of the spiritual health of a church, and that therefore, when she felt good at church, the church was spiritually good. She insisted that this was a subjective thing (which of course, feelings are), and that therefore different churches are right for different people. She told me that people need to find for themselves the way that is right for them. People need to find their own way as Christians, she insisted, presumably because the work of the Spirit is different in different people.
Furthermore, Lou also told me that she gets amazing feelings during the church meetings, which she referred to as the anointing of the Spirit. She believes that being emotionally overwhelmed is a sign of the work of God in her and the church, by his Spirit.
There are a number of reasons why I'll be praying for the well-being of Lou, the first of which is that she may not be a Christian. I know this sounds patronising, but there's no way around the fact that the teaching of the Bible is in many ways irreconcilable with the beliefs Lou has. I'll take a few moments here to explain why.
Firstly, it can be established that 'spiritual experiences', even miracles and signs and wonders, are NOT necessarily the work of God amongst Christian people. Let us remember the warning of the apostle Paul that God, by using Satan as his agent, can give powerful delusions by way of miracles and signs to those who refuse to accept the truth!
As we read in 2 Thessalonians 2: 9-12:
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
Also, in Colossians chapter 2 verses 18-19 we read:
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
Now I know there is a context for each of these sections of scripture that needs to be taken into account if we're going to ascertain their precise meaning. However, I think that they serve at the very least to affirm the principle that just because someone can have a spiritual experience, says nothing of whether or not it is God ordained, and there is good reason to suspect the work of evil rather than good with such experiences.
Lou identified feelings related to spiritual experiences as the things that assured her that the church she came to attend was the right one, and that she was strong as a Christian. If I were Satan, I would be most happy with this kind of thinking, because having people believe they're strong Christians on the basis of something in addition, or something separate to the death and Resurrection of Jesus as explained in the Bible, is in the end, a belief that what Jesus has accomplished is insufficient both for salvation and saved living.
Christians should be assured that every spiritual blessing is already theirs as a result of being in Christ. The Bible says this plainly in Ephesians chapter 1. The work of the Spirit of God is to bring people to repentance and trust in Jesus; his death as payment for all sin, and his resurrection as a guarantee of our heavenly inheritance. And given that Christians grow in just the same way that we first were saved (by continually trusting in Christ - keeping the cross central to our lives as Colossians 2:6 points out), then it must be the case that the way the Spirit continues to work in individual believers is by continually pointing us to Christ.
If I were to believe that the work of the Spirit resulted in specific feelings or being overwhelmed, then I would be at risk of mistaking the work of God's Spirit for something different. There's a possibility that I would be trusting in something other than the gospel of Jesus for my right relationship with God. And because there's no such thing as a right relationship with God outside acceptance of the gospel of Jesus (as explained in the Bible), then I would be a deluded person - thinking I was saved from the righteous anger of God on the day of judgment, when in fact I was not.
There's also a negative flip-side of the belief that feelings and spiritual experiences are the measure of your faith. If you're not getting the feeling that comes with the anointing of the spirit (a term that Lou used to describe a common experience she had) then to be consistent, you would have to conclude that you're not healthy as a Christian. And just as feelings are fickle and always varying, so too will be your Christian living.
I think that what Lou has been taught is something that many people all over the world are becoming subject to. New age spirituality is finding expression through biblical language, which can only be described as dangerous to those caught up in it. The bible warns us that those who don't teach the correct Gospel (that is, the Apostolic Gospel that the bible presents to us) are eternally condemned (Galatians chapter 1). This is because the difference between the true Gospel and false teaching is, in effect, the difference between salvation and condemnation. This is why the Bible makes such a huge deal of false teaching! It's no coincidence that almost every book of the New Testament (including the words of Jesus in the Gospels) has something to say directly against false teaching. Just as relying on religious things gives many people the false impression that they are pleasing to God, so to does relying on feelings and spiritual experiences.
I decided to write this post to warn Christians (and I guess non-Christians) to not be deceived by those who go on about visions or spiritual experiences. Don't become someone who attends a particular church because it makes you feel good. A good church is one where the Spirit of God is doing what the Bible says he will be doing: pointing people to Jesus. A truly Spiritual church is a church that's preaching and teaching the Gospel. You should be hearing about Jesus all the time! The amazing work of God's Spirit is that he opens our eyes to accept what the Bible is saying, and so put our trust in the death and resurrection of Christ. God's Spirit never works independently of God's Word, for God is Father Son and Spirit all working in one accord. Therefore, a truly Spiritual church is a church that faithfully teaches the Bible - not using the Bible, but relying on what the Bible says.
Incidentally, a good church therefore will be a church where you often don't feel good! The faithful teaching of the Bible will continually show people to be thoroughly sinful and in need of the salvation that only Jesus can offer. The Gospel, by it's very nature, is offensive and even to the saved person, it should continually spur us on to repentance for our wrongdoings. If Lou feels good at church every week, I can't help but wonder if she's ever being convicted of her sinfulness and her need to repent and trust in Christ.
I guess this argument seems pretty blunt, but I feel genuinely concerned for Lou, and I am angered at those who taught her such nonsense to the point where she feels secure in something that is unbiblical. And as usual, I make no claim to be above sin: if not for the grace of God, I would be in her situation. As someone training to handle the Word of God, I need to be extra cautious when it comes to teaching others. I hope and pray that I'll not go against anything the Bible teaches, and my supporters may like to pray the same thing for me.
Stay tuned for Pak's thoughts on Passover!
"Let's get down to serious business"! (My Auntie Jenny mid-bible reading).
And here's some crazy Pakula's! Left to right: Rachel, Myself, Asher, Jenny and Martin.